Banisia myrsusalis (Walker, 1895)
Sapodilla Borer
 (one synonym : Durdara pyraliata Moore, 1882)
STRIGLININAE,   THYRIDIDAE,   THYRIDOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Banisia myrsusalis
Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, from
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art

These Caterpillars bore into the stems of its foodplant, and are an occasional pest on

  • Sapodilla ( Manilkara zapota SAPOTACEAE ).

    Banisia myrsusalis
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The adult moths are brown, with some rows of dark dashes, and some variable translucent window spots near the middle of the forewings. The undersides are paler with darker dashes. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

    The species is found around tropics including:

  • Brazil,
  • India,
  • Singapore, and
  • U.S.A.,

    as well as in Australia in

  • Northern Territory, and
  • Queensland.

    Further Reading:

    B.S. Patel, R.C. Jhala, H.V. Pandya, and C.B. Patel,
    Biology of leaf-folder (Banisia myrsusalis elearalis) (Lepidoptera: Thyrididae), a pest of sapota (Achras zapota),
    Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences,
    Volume 63 (1993), pp. 604-605.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 210.

    Francis Walker,
    Pyralides,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 19 (1859), p. 892.

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    (updated 12 November 2011, 1 Sptember 2020)